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All Star Shenanigans.

Internet, we need to talk about something very serious. I’m going to paint you a picture of two ballplayers.

Player One is batting .339 with 17 home runs, 44 RBI, an OBP of .402 and a slugging percentage of .707. He’s one of the best clutch hitters in baseball and has effortlessly replaced a fan favorite in a notoriously difficult town.

Player Two has been suspended since May 7 for using a banned substance.

Which player do YOU think is ranked higher in the National League All-Star Game outfielder voting totals?

Player one is Raul Ibanez. He’s in the middle of singlehandedly keeping the Phillies hovering at the top of the National League East.

Player two? Manny Ramirez, who will finally be allowed to play another game July 3, a week and a half before the All-Star Game.

Why is this happening? Well, in part, it’s because some baseball fan set up a website begging fans to vote for Manny in an effort to call attention to Major League Baseball’s laughable Performance Enhancing Drug policy. Let’s be honest, though. It’s because folks who know nothing about the game go to ballgames, grab the ballots and vote for the guy they’ve heard of once or twice.

Look, there’s a reason the same guys start the game every year, and it’s not necessarily because the numbers bear it out. It’s because some guy lucked into tickets at the office and SportsCenter told him that Derek Jeter is really good. (Derek Jeter is leading the AL ballot? Really? Mark Texeira’s even getting votes? REALLY?!) People. If you don’t know anything, don’t vote. If you’re a National League fan who knows squattah about the AL? Just vote for the NL! The world doesn’t need ‘Hey, I saw Johnny Damon on Cribs once’ votes.

And look, it happens every year, and every year, I wind up stomping around the house yelling about at least one player getting a starting berth that someone else deserved. I should be used to it by now. And yet…look, y’all, I’m sorry. I live in Philly. I see every day what Ibanez does for this team, and it pisses me off that a cheating jackhole like Manny Ramirez is beating him in the voting for the All Star Game.

WHAT THE HELL, AMERICA (AND ONE CITY IN CANADA)? STOP BEING DUMB. VOTE FOR IBANEZ.

2) I hated Manny Ramirez when he was in Boston, I hated him when he “lifted the Dodgers into the playoffs” (which I put in sneer quotes because they would’ve gotten there without him), and I hated him when they re-signed him. I don’t care if that makes me a “bad fan”, because if you take a look at BtB’s Playoff Probability Added, you’ll see that Derek Lowe, Russell Martin, Chad Billingsley, and Hiroki Kuroda were all worth more to the Dodgers’ playoff chances than Ramirez was. Link to the study is here: http://tr.im/mKA4

Seconded. Hating Manny makes you a sentient human being, and this is coming from a Red Sox fan. I would have done a jig if no one bothered to sign him this season, because he embodies everything I hate. Cheater? Check. Dogs it when he won’t get his way? Check. Dismissive of and dinsulting to the ‘little people’ who actually keep the league running? Check.

It’s this sort of nonsense that adds fuel to arguement that the general public should not get a vote in all-star balloting. IMO if you get suspended for a substantial amount of time, particularly for cheating, you should automatically be inelligilble for such an honor.

Fan voting completely sucks! Look at the NHL All-Star Game voting this year. Since the game was in Montreal, and the Canadiens were celebrating their centennial year, their fans decided to get the starting lineup to include all Canadien players. They were almost successful! There were guys playing in the All-Star Game who didn’t belong there. My beef was that there was only one Caps player (Ovechkin) when there should have been at least 2 or more (Green, Backstrom and maybe Semin).

This is why All-Star Games are a joke, and they should not hold any merit in the postseason. Selig, are you listening?

Except you forgot that there was some schmuck thing between some Montreal and Pittsburgh fans that basically said that we’ll vote for you if you vote for us, and it took out players that should have been in the starting lineup.

At least Manny plays in the majors. A group of Red Sox fans are campaigning to vote Lastings Milledge onto the All-Star Game roster. Milledge is currently on the roster of the Washington Nationals’ AAA affiliate, but because he began the season on the Nationals’ roster, he’s on the ASG ballot. This proves several things: (1) the ASG ballots went out too early, (2) fan voting is ridiculous, and (3) Red Sox fans (at least some of them) are idiots.

And I totally agree that All-Star Games should NOT have any effect on the postseason.

Maggie, you’re absolutely right about this all star game situation. The whole set-up is ridiculous. Including the winning side earning home field advantage for their league in the series. I mean, if you’re an NL fan, why not stuff the box with crappy players in the AL or vice-versa? Ibanez does deserve to start. Manny is and has been the biggest chump in baseball since Bonds disgraced the most coveted records in a sport that thrives on stats. I do have one bone to pick though – Texeira is a great player and though he had a slow start, is now back on track. Only Morneau stands in front of him this year.